It's been a good while since Los Plantronics' excellent 2011 LP "Organic Voodoo Soup", so they've gotten the ball rolling again by releasing a new 7" called Shortnin Bread. The namesake of the 7" is the same Shortnin' Bread you've heard plenty of times (with vocals) but it also includes "Navajo" which is exactly the sort of big-production high-energy surf I love to hear from these guys.

There's a video for Shortnin Bread on the way, but perhaps more importantly they've promised an LP called "Surfin' Times" later this year!

Thankfully not much similarity to the similarly named Lou Reed record, Knoxville's Phantom Operators have been drip-feeding single songs for a few months now and have scooped them all up into a 9-song LP. Some songs like Tiki Patrol and Charlie's Point are pretty trad, but it finds a darker place as it moves on. Definitely get a bit of an Insect Surfers/Derangers vibe.

Hodaddys play some fun-in-the-sun trad surf with a bit of a hot rod touch to it. Gotta love all the Rat Fink styled art this band has courtesy of Chainsaw Chuck. Based on the samples at newreleasesnow.com, this one's got some great production on it, sounds loud and big like it ought to.

Here we go, 2015! The Sub-Vectors gave me a preview of a few tracks off their new album back in December and I found them mighty tasty. It's big (huge even), loud, of the MOAM school of guitar tone, and really packs a punch. The name (and art) of the CD comes from how Soviet music bootleggers would sometimes press records onto X-Rays.

Here's one from a continent you don't see too often in instro: The Moths hail from South Africa and their sound reflects the look of the album cover here pretty well. It's raw, ragged, and punk-styled. This three-song live EP and their LP from last year are free to download

Mambo Jambo are not a surf band. They've got a sax heavy sound that seems to be aiming straight for the sound that record collectors have collectively dubbed "tittyshaker". There's also some definite jazz and exotica bits to it too. If, like me, they only recently walked into your mental library of instro groups, they've convenvienly put a good chunk of their library on bandcamp.

You can give Esquivo a listen here or purchase it online

I wasn't really sure if Steelism was the sort of group this site should be concerned with when I saw that their LP "615 to Fame" was coming out. I saw it at Louisiana Music Factory and thought "what the hey". Glad I did, it's a pretty great album. Obviously there's a good helping of steel guitar, but they definitely also carry pretty heavy surf influences, with flashes of jazz, country, spy, and there's a surprising amount of fuzz too. It's clever and diverse stuff.

So hot off the heels of that, they have a limited edition 7" coming out tomorrow Turbo Time Records. You can preview one of the tracks below or order it.

Based on this and the Speedball Jr 7"s that came out in 2014, there must be some sort of discount going on at a record pressing plant for doing 2 different 7"s. Nobody's complaining though! Russian weirdo surfers The Messer Chups have kicked off 2014 with two 7"s named Jokermobile and Church of Reverb

These Chilean folk definitely don't sound like every other band. While the prominent saxophone may be historically common, it's always a little surprising to hear in modern groups. More surprising is the sitar and the Street Fighter "HADOUKEN". But more importantly, their tone is much different, sometimes definitely not always sticking to the major chords, sometimes sounding a little atonal (I'm assuming intentionally).

Plain ol' Peanut-butter-n-Jelly surf instros with an upbeat vibe from Argentina. I found all six tracks enjoyable, and the drummer seems especially eager. Give 'em a quick listen!